I was reading the previous post and looking through the various names of projects that I may have forgotten to write about. I decided that my trip to Deer Valley was worth a page in my memories.
My boss, Gordon, had introduced us all to MBTI, or Myers Briggs Type Indicator and had convinced the vice presidents of our corporation that it was a valuable tool. And it was; our small group of instructors had been Typed and had been introduced to a leading "organizational development consultant" William Jeffries, specializing in HR development. Simple fact, he was an expert on the MBTI and he had a company that would introduce the MBTI to your employees. We had already found that knowing each others type had made our small group more effective.
After that initial meeting with Mr. Jeffries, Gordon, myself and Jack; another instructor, flew to Indianapolis and then to Zanesville, Indiana for another meeting with Mr. Jeffries. There it was decided that Jack and I would take the course offered and become accredited MBTI trainers. We would be going to Salt Lake City and then driving to Deer Valley where Mr. Jeffries had a condo. The training would take place in his living room!. The next class would be in November and it would be cold in the mountains above the Great Salt Lake
Jack and I flew into Salt Lake City, rented a car and made our way east. Deer Valley, we found, was located right next to Park City, of Winter Olympics fame. We alse found that there was a large sociaL difference between the two cities. The really rich lived in Deer Valley and the wannabe's lived in Park City.
We found our hotel and we were properly awed by it. The rooms were fantastic. Also, the hotel was mostly empty. The 'season' in Deer Valley does not begin till December 1st, no matter how much snow there is and no matter what they are doing in Park City. We had to go back to Park City that night for dinner as there were no places to eat in Deer Valley. No restaurants were open till the season began.
The next day we walked to William's or Bill's condo. It was a short walk in bright sunshine and bitter cold. We were welcomed and introduced to the rest of the class; I believe there were 5 others. Bill outlined the course for us and passed out written material for study. He explained that there was going to be a test at the end of the week and it had to be passed or our week was a waste and we wouldn't be certified.
Then it began. He was a great speaker/instructor and time went by quickly. We were there for 8 hours a day but there were breaks and we could always get a fresh cup of coffee from his kitchen. Every night we would find a new restaurant to try in Park City. We really appreciated our expense accounts! Every morning we would make our way down the road to his condo and more instruction. Then came the day for the test and our flight back home. I didn't sleep well the night before. It had been years since I had taken any kind of test. The construction culture that I came from didn't use tests. You were good at your job or you were fired. We didn't need a test to find that out. But now I was being tested and I felt as if I was incredibly stupid., while my partner, Jack, was brilliant. I just knew it and was prepared for a ride of 'shame' back to the airport.
We took the test and waited anxiously for Bill to give us our results; privately. Incredible! I had passed. I talked to Jack and he had passed as well, so we compared our scores in different sections of the test. They were all different, just as our personalities were different. We both scored above average and that was great! We said goodbye and headed down the mountain.
I'm an accredited MBTI something or another, and I have a piece of paper around here, somewhere, that says so. Being retired, I have no use for it anymore. But, I still have all of the course material and the books, including two written by William 'Bill' Jeffries.
Here is a link to the company that Bill heads. His CV is incredible and should be read. You can see that he taught at Carnegie Mellon among other places and that has to be the link to our boss, Gordon. He has degree in Nuclear Physics from Carnegie Mellon. Bill is somewhat short, has a ponytail, but he has a commanding presence. He had been a Green Beret, a Lieutenant Colonel, etc etc so you didn't want to tease him about his hairstyle. All in all, it was great time and a great memory.
